Machine for making separable fastener elements



March -3, 1942. E. J. CONLIN 7 MACHINE FOR MAKING SEPARABLE EASTENERELEMENTS Filed July 25, 1940 i 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTCOR ATTORNEYSMACHINE FOR MAKING SEPARABLE FASTENER ELEMENTS Filed July 25, 1940 4Sheets-Shet 2 WAITN ESS INVENTOR H'lxcpE.

ATTORNEYS March 3, 1942. E. J. VCONLIN MACHINE FQRYMAKING SEPARABLEFASTENER ELEMENTS Filed Jul 'zs, 1940 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTORATTORNEYS Eymmy UoA/L/A/ v WITNESS 5w? March E. J. CONLIN 2,275,131

MACHINE FOR MAKING SEPARABLE FASTENER ELEMENTS Filed July 25, 1940 4SheetsSheet 4 ETITJL- ATTORNEYS,

Patented Mar. 3, 1942 MACHINE FOR MAKING SEPARABLE FASTENER ELEMENTS'l'dward J. Conlin, New Britain, Conn., assignor to The G. E. PrenticeMfg. 00., New Britain, Conn., a corporation of Connecticut Ap licationJuly 25, 1940, Serial No. 347,420

7 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in machines for use in themanufacture of slide fastener elements and more particularly to machinesfor making separable fastener structures in which the fastener elementscomprise the coils of a pair of spiral or helical springs, one of suchsprings being a plain coiled springs ,while the other spring has aseries of wave-like formations or hooks which are adapted to interlockwith the coils of the plain spring to close the fastener structure. Theinterlocking of the two coiled springs is controlled by a slider whichis slidably mounted on such members and may be operated manually in one,direction to cause interlocking engagement of the hooks of the onecoiled spring with the coils of the other coiled spring and in the otherdirection to disengage such hooks and coils to open the fastenerstructure.

The principal object of the invention is to provide an improved machinecapable of forming helical spring members of a predetermined length,such as the aforementioned fastener elements, in a continuous operationand without any stoppage or interruption of the feeding and formingmechanisms so that the maximum speed of production of such members isattained.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved form ofmachine which is simply constructed, sturdy and reliable in action,which is capable of simplifying and reducing the expense ofmanufacturing helical spring members and which will produce perfectlyformed units of the above indicated type.

Other objects and advantages of the invention, as well as the novelfeatures of construction, combination of elements and arrangement ofparts will become more apparent after a perusal of the followingdescription read in connection with the accompanying drawings in whichFig. 1

'is a front elevational view of a machine embodying the improvements ofthis invention; Fig. 2 is an enlarged top plan view of a portion of themachine illustrated in Fig. 1, some of the parts being omitted for thesake of clearness; Fig. 3 is an enlarged detailed sectional view of theupper portion of the machine taken along the line 33 of Fig. 2; Fig. 4is an enlarged detailed plan view of the forming and cutting mechanismand Fig. 5 is a front elevational view of the parts illustrated in Fig.4, some of the parts being shown in vertical section and such viewillustrating the feeding of a helical wire from the forming mech anismthrough the cutting mechanism.

In the drawings the reference numeral I by a bearing block I3 mounted onthe side frame member II and rotatably supported adjacent its other endby a bearing block I4 provided on the side frame member I2. The end ofthe shaft I5 .extending through the bearing block I4 is provided with apulley wheel I6 on which is mounted a belt I1 which connects'such pulleywheel to a pulley I8 mounted on the end of a motor shaft I9. The motor20 is supported on the side frame member I2 in anysuitable manner andmeans (not shown) are also provided to connect such motor 20 to..asource of current and to control the operation thereof.

Means are provided for transmitting the rotative movement of the shaftI5 to the various operating mechanism utilized in the manufacture of thehelically-shaped spring member, such means including a bevel gear 2|secured to the shaft I5, as by means of a set screw, and meshing with abevel gear 22 which is mounted on the lower end of a depending shaft 23,the latter of which extends upwardly through the horizontally disposedarms of a roller bracket 24. Intermediate the arms of the bracket 24 andfixedly secured to the shaft 23 is a roller 25 which is provided at itslower end with a spur gear 26 adapted to mesh with a spur gear 21provided on the lower end of a roller 28. The roller 28 is mounted on avertically disposed shaft 29 whose ends extend through apertures in thespaced arms of a roller bracket-30 which is positioned adjacent to theroller bracket 24 and connected thereto by means of a horizontallydisposed plate 3| (see Fig. 2). Provided on the upper end of the roller25 is an annular member 32 which is aligned with and cooperates with anannular member 33 provided on the upper end of the roller 28 to feed astrand of wire forwardly toward the coil forming mechanism at the frontof the machine. The members 32 and 33 may have plain exterior surfacesso that they function solely as feeding rollers for the wire or they mayhave teeth cut in such surfaces as is indicated in Fig. 2 of thedrawings so that they in addition function as kinking rollers to producea wave-like formation or kinks in the wire prior to forming it intosprial form as will hereinafter be more fully explained.

The wire to be fed or fed and kinked may be supplied from a coil or rollwhich may be carried on a supporting plate or table provided at the rearof the machine or otherwise suitably disposed with relation to themachine. The wire which is indicated generally by the numeral 34, ispassed forwardly in its feed through a guide 35 which is carried by theplate 3| connecting the roller brackets 24 and 30 and adapted to directsuch wire between the two annular members 32 and 33 as is shown moreclearly in Fig. 2 of the drawings. If the two members 32 and 33 areconstructed so that they are in the nature of kinking gears, as isindicated in Fig. 2 of the drawings, the wire is given a wave-likeformation, the wave being of sinuous form and disposed in a planeparallel to the horizontal surfaces of the table 18. In this case theteeth in the two members 32 and 33 are preferably so constructed withrespect to the diameter of the final helicallyshaped fastener memberthat each spiral or coil of the latter will include three complete kinksor waves, the kinks or waves of each spiral or coil being aligned inrows with the kinks or waves of the other coils to form a longitudinalseries of hooks which are positioned in spaced relation about theperiphery of the formed spiral wire to provide three longitudinallyextending series of hooks on the fastener member by which it may beinterlocked with the loops or coils of the plain spiral wire of thefastener. In either case, whether the members 32 and 33 are to be usedmerely as feeding rollers or as feeding and kinking rollers the portionof the wire emerging from such members is fed by the latter through asuitable guide 36 which is secured at its'forward end to a block 31mounted on a clamp 38 which is supported in any suitable manner on a diebed 39 carried by the table II).

Positioned in cooperative relation with the forward end of the guide 38is a die 48 provided with a passageway or elongated opening throughwhich extends a die member 4|. The die member 4| may be adjustedlongitudinally in the die 48 and is maintained in its adjusted positionby means of a set screw 42 (see Figs. 2, 4 and The portion of the diemember 4| which lies in the path of the exit or forward end of the guide36 is tapered in form to control the diameter of the spiral coil to beformed and is provided with a spiral thread. Thus as the portion of thewire emerging from the guide 36 is fed to the tapered portion of the diemember 4| under the influence of the feeding members 32 and 33, it isformed around such portion of member 4| by the action of the adjacentinterior surface portions of the passageway or channel in the die 46 andgiven a spiral form, the tapered spiral thread of the die member 4|directing the spiralled wire towards the reduced end portion 43 of thedie member 4|. After passing from the die 49 the spiral wire enters thealigned passageway of a guide member 44 positioned in spaced relation tothe die 48 and supported upon a bracket 45 secured at its lower end to ablock 48 provided on the die bed 39. The spiralled wire then passes fromthe guide 44 to the aligned passageway of a cutting die 46 and as itemerges from such cutting die is cut to the desired lengths by theintermittent action of a knife 56.

The cutting die 46 is in the nature of a plug which is positioned in anopening or aperture provided in a vertically disposed bracket member orstandard 41 (see Fig. 5) and is fixedly secured in place as by means ofa set screw. The die 46 at its inlet end is slightly greater in diameterthan the other or outlet end thereof which is approximately the same indiameter as the outside diameter of the spiral wire going through the aninch greater than the outside diameter of the helical coil. From theoutlet end of the die to the inlet end thereof the passageway of the dieplug gradually increased in diameter to a point adjacent to the inletend thereof, the degree of increase being such that there is a 1 /2"taper throughout the length of the plug from the outletend thereof to apoint adjacent the inlet end thereof. The inlet opening of the plug isbevelled I to enable the ready threading of a coiled wire into the plugand to facilitate the passage of the coiled spring into the plug duringthe feeding operation.

The standard or supporting bracket 41 is provided at its lower end witha foot portion which rests on the block 48 provided on the die bed 39and is secured to such block by means of a bolt 49 which extends throughan opening 50 provided in such foot portion into threaded engagementwith the block 48. The opening 56 in the foot portion of the standard 41is substantially larger than the diameter of the shank of the bolt 49 topermit of adjustment of the standard with relation to the block 48, thebolt 49 being secured to such foot portion through the agency of awasher 5| which is large enough to span the opening 58 therein and restson the edges of such foot portion bordering the opening 50 as is shownmore clearly in Fig. 5 of the drawings. The standard 41 is furthersecured to the block 48 by means which include a clamping member orextension block 52 which is fixedly secured to such block 48 by the bolt53 and which is provided with an upwardly extending portion 54. A bolt55 extends through the clamp portion 54 and into threaded engagementwith a horizontally disposed thread 51 provided in the base of thestandard 41. It will be apparent therefore that the standard 41 may beadjusted with respect to the block member ,48 and the guide member 44and die 46 by loosening the bolt 49 and then adjusting the bolt 55 tovary the position of the standard. The bolt 55 is provided with a collar58 so that it does not move longitudinally in the aperture of the clampportion 54 during the adjustment of the standard 41.

Co-acting with the die member 46 is a knife 56 which is mounted fors-lidable movement in a vertical direction in a vertically disposedchannel or recess 59 provided inthe standard 41, the knife 56 beingconfined in such recess by means of a cover plate 68 which is bolted tothe side edges of the recess, as is clearly indicated in Figs. 4 and 5of the drawings. The channel or recess 59 in the standard 41 isconstructed so that the face of the knife blade 56 contacting with thebottom surface of the recess is disposed at an oblique angle to avertical plane passed through the axial center of the coiled wire fed tothe cutting die 46. The angle at which the knife 56 is turned ispreferably the same as the angle of pitch of the coils in the wire beingfed thereto so that as the knife passes over the exit end of the dieplug 46 the cut on the wire will be a straight transverse cut. The knife56 is normally maintained in its uppermost position in the channel 59with the cutting edge thereof positioned just above the outlet openingof the die plug 46, by means of a spring 6| which is seated at its lowerend in a cup shaped recess 62 provided on the upper end of the standard41 and is connected at its upper end to a spring seat 63 which isfixedly secured to the upper end of the knife 56. Movement of the knife56 in the channel or recess 58 of the standard 41 is controlled by meansof a pin 64 which is attached to the knife intermediate the latter'sends and extends through an elongated guideway 65 provided in the coverplate 68 mounted on the standard 41.

Intermittent downward movement is imparted to the knife 56 from the mainshaft l of the machine through a sprocket wheel 14 mounted on the shaftI5 and connected by means of a chain 18 and a sprocket wheel 15 providedon the righthand end of a shaft 18, as viewed in Fig. 1 of the drawings,to the shaft 18. The shaft 18 is rotatably supported on a pair of spacedbearing standards 1| and 12 mounted on the table I8 of the machine andprovided on the shaft 18 intermediate such standards is a sprocket wheel16 (see Fig. 3) which carries a chain 11, the lower end of such chainpassing around an idler sprocket wheel 18, as is shown in Fig. 1. idlerwheel 18 is rotatably mounted on an axle member 18 which is provided atone end with a hand wheel 88 and at its other end extends through achain adjusting channel 8| and a clamp 82, the shank of such memberbeing threaded and being in threaded engagement with the clamp 82. Thusby operating the hand wheel 88, the sprocket wheel I8 may be adjustedfrom the position illustrated in Fig. 1 to any other position desired onthe chain adjusting channel 8| l to take care of various lengths offasteners or coiled springs as will hereinafter become more clear. Thechain adjusting channel 8| i suitably supported at its upper end to theunder side of the table l8 and braced at its lower end by means of abrace 83 which is attached to the side frame II as is shown more clearlyin Fig. 1 of the drawings.

The chain 1! is provided at spaced intervals with a plurality of trip orknocker links 84 which are formed and arranged to engage with a knockerpin'85 in the movements of the chain around the sprocket wheel 16 as isshown more clearly in Fig. 3 of the drawings. The knocker pin 85 ismounted intermediate the ends of a knocker arm or lever 86 so as to bepositioned directly over the sprocket wheel 16. The lever 86 ispivotally mounted at one end on a pin 81 provided at the upper end of abracket arm 88 which is secured at its lower end as by means of thebolts 88, 88 to the rear side of the table l8. The forward or free endof the lever arm 86 is fork-shaped, the arms of the fork supporting apin 88 which may be secured in position as by means of cotter pins andon which is pivotally mounted a depending link member 8|. As is shownmore clearly in Fig. 3 of the drawings the link member 8| inclinesrearwardly from the pin 88 and at its lower end rests on a stop member82 provided on the table |8 of the machine. Adjacent to the lower end ofthe link 8| and intermediate the ends of the latter, is connected onearm 83 of a rocker member 86. The other arm 84 of the rocker member 86has attached thereto the lower ends of two springs 85, 85 which areconnected at their upper ends to the pin 88. The rocker member 86 ispivotally mounted on a pin |88 extending between the upstanding bearingarms 81 and 88, the latter of which is integral with a block 88 mountedon the table l8 and the The h each of the trip or knocker links 84 ofthe chain 1,! comes into engagement with the knocker pin 85 the latter,together with the lever arm 86 supporting it, will be pivoted upwardlyabout the pin 81 thereby raising the free end of such lever togetherwith the link 8|. The raising of the free end of the lever 86 and thelink 8| causes the arm 83 of the rocker member 86 to be pivoted upwardlyor in a clockwise direction and the arm 84 of the member 86 to bepivoted downwardly, thereby placing the springs 85, 85 under increasedtension. As soon as the knocker or trip link 84 has passed the knockerpin 85, the tensioned springs 85, 85 contract to immediately return therocker member 86 back to its normal position. The upward movement of'the lever arm 86 is limited by a stop consisting of an elongated plateI83 secured at its lower end to the table l8 of the machine and havingan offset upper end which overlies and is in the path of movement of thelever arm 86. The arm 84 of the rocker member 86 is provided with aninverted bolt |8| whose head is positionjed above the upper end of theknife 56 and whose shank extends through an opening in the arrh 84 andis secured to the latter by means of a nut I82. It will thus be seenthat as the arm 84 of the rocker member 86 is pivoted downwardly, theknife 56 is depressed against the tension of its spring 6| and wipespast the outlet opening in the die plug 46, the pin 64 ofsuch knifethrough its engagement with the guide aperture 65 in the cover plate 68limiting the downward movement of such knife. In this downward movementthe bottom end portion of the knife first bends the wire down and thenas it continues its movement cuts through the wire of which the coil isconstituted, the cut being a straight transverse out due to the factthat the knife is disposed at an angle-similar to the pitch of the coilsof the coiled wire member. To facilitate these operations the cuttingend of the knife should preferably be so constructed that the bottomsurface of the knife inclines upwardly from the cutting edge thereof atan angle of approximately 15 from the horizontal. As soon as the head ofbolt |8| has delivered the hammer blow to knife 56 and is returning toits upwardly or normal position under the influence of the springs 85,95, the spring 6| associated with the knife 56 comes into action toreturn the knife to its normal position where the blade thereof will bepositioned just above the outlet end of the die plug 46.

It will be evident from the foregoing description of the machine of thisinvention that the parts thereof are relatively simple and rugged inconstruction and will be relatively inexpensive to make. The machine inits operations produces the desired construction of fastener elementsquite rapidly, the wire being fed by the feeding rollers 32 and 33 whichare directly propelled from the main shaft l5 of the machine through thegears 2| and 33 into the passageway of the die member 48 where the wireis coiled around the die member 4| and thence passed through the spacedguide 44 to the spaced cutting die member 46. The rotativemovements ofthe main shaft l5 of the machine is likewise utilized to deliver hammerblows at intermittent intervals to a knife 56 which coacts with thecutting die member 46 to cut the coiled wire into proper lengths. Themeans for accomplishing this are, as has been above explained, thesprocket wheel 14, chain 13 and sprocket wheel l5which transfer therotativemovements of the shaft l5 to the shaft and a sprocket wheel 16mounted upon the latter. The rotation of sprocket wheel I6 causes theknocker links 84 onchain TI to inter-n mittently come into engagementwith and to raise the knocker pin 85. blow imparted to the knocker pin85 by a link 84 causes the lever 88 supporting such pin to pivotabruptly about pin 81 thereby jerking link 9| upwardly and through therocker member 96 causing the head of bolt H to deliver a blow to the topof knife 56. As soon as the blow is imparted to knife 56, the partsreturn to their nor- The quick upward mal positions, the springs 85, 95rotating the rocker member 96 back to normal position so that the link9| again rests on the stop 92 and the lever 86 is in its lowermostposition with the knocker pin 85 carried thereby againpositioned in thepath of movement of the links 84. The

number and position of the links 84 on the chain 11 determine thelengths of the fastener units or helical springs being made. For examplein the coiled fastener element illustrated, there: are twenty-two coilsto the inch. The feeding of the gears 32 and 33 is so related to thetravel of the chain 'I'l that sixteenlinks of one-half inch from centertocenter are required in such chain for each inch of fastener. Thus ifthe fastener elements are to be three inches in length the chain will beapproximately three feet long and have a knocker link at the end of each47 links. In other words there will be 96 links in the chain, two ofwhich will be two knocker links spaced so that at each one-half of arevolution of the chain one will come into engagement with the knockerpin 85 to cause a blow to be delivered to the knife 56.

The blow delivered to the knife 56 by the head of bolt IIH causes aquick wiping movement of the knife past the outlet end of the cuttingdie 46, the knife as has been explained, during such movement bendingthe helical wire spring down and then cutting through the wire of suchspring at an angle approximately equal to the pitch or off-set of thecoils of such spring so as to make a straight transverse cut. During theengagement of the knife 56 with the coiled helical spring, the forwardmovement of the latter at the point of engagement is momentarily haltedso that the coiled spring winds up back to the guide,member 44 but suchbacking action of the coiled spring does not extend beyond the guide 44so as to interfere with the feeding and forming of the wire 34 by thefeed wheels 32 and 33 and the spiral forming members 48 and 4|. Theguide .44 therefore is sopositioned intermediate the forming die 40 andcutting die 46 as to provide suflicient length of spring on the one handto enable the backing up action to take place and on the other hand toprevent any interference to the feeding and forming mechanisms becauseof such backing up action. The feeding and forming of the wire thereforecan be made a continuous operation while the cutting operations can beintermittent. The spring 6i, associated with the knife 56 assures thatit will be immediately withdrawn as soon as the force imparted to theknife by the bolt illl has been spent so that the knife will be inengagement with the helically formed spring only momentarily and notlong enough to cause a backing up of such spring past the guide member44. /The guide member during these operations functions to maintain thespring in straight line and prevents wabbling and disconnection of suchspring from the cutting die 46 during the feeding movements of the feedwheels 32 and 33.

While I have described and illustrated a preferred embodiment of myinvention, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that variousmodifications and changes may be made without departing from the spiritand scope of the invention. For example I may utilize the differentfeeding mechanisms shown and described in my copending applicationSerial No. 307,975, filed December '7, 1939, or theforming mechanismsillustrated in such application. This application is acontinuation-in-part of the aforesaid application, which matured intoPatent No. 2,244,243, dated June 3, 1941. Other and various changes andmodifications can also be made as will be readily apparent to thoseskilled in the art. Hence I do not intend to be limited to the specificembodiment above described but intend in the appended claims to coversuch changes and modifications as are within the scope of the invention.a

I claim:

l. A machine for producing spirally-shaped slide fastener elementscomprising a shaft, means for continuously driving said shaft, wirefeeding means continuously driven by said shaft, mechanism forcontinuously forming into a spiral form the wire fed by said feedingmeans, wire cutting means spaced from said forming mechanism, cutteractuating means connected to said continuously driven shaft and operableat predetermined intervals to. cause said cutting means to cut thespiralled wire into predetermined lengths, a guide positionedintermediate said forming mechanism and cutting means and spacedtherefrom so that there are two sections of formed wire intermediatesaid forming mechanism and cutting means which are free from hindranceto their movements, said guide being tubularly-shaped and being at adistance from said cutting means such that when the movements of thespiralled wire. are stopped at the' place of cutting, the closing of thecoils of such wire will not extend to the suspended section of wirebetween the guide and the forming mechanism.

2. A machine for producing spirally-shaped elements comprising a shaft,means for continuously driving said shaft, means for feeding and forminga wire into a spiral form, wire cutting means spaced from said feedingand forming means, and cutter actuating means including a pivoted hammermember normally spaced from said wire' cutting means, means connected toand continuously driven by said shaft and mechanism connecting saidhammer member to said cantinuously' driven means, the latter beingadapted at predetermined intervals to actuate said connecting mechanismto cause said hammer member to deliver a blow to said cutting means andcause the latter to cut the wire.

3. A machine such as is defined in claim 2, in which said wire cuttingmeans includes a knife arranged to be struck by said hammer member and adie having a passageway disposed in substantial alignment to the line offeed of the spiralled wire, said passageway being-at its inlet I end ofgreater diameter than at its outlet end and gradually increasing indiameter from its outlet end to its inlet end.

4. A machine such as is defined in claim 2, in which said wire cuttingmeans includes a standard, a vertically disposed knife slidably mountedin a guideway provided in said standard and arranged to be struck bysaid hammer member, said guideway and knife being disposed at an anglesimilar to the angle of pitch of the coils in the spiralled wire andsaid knife having a cutting edge which is disposed at an angle from thehorizontal, and spring means normally maintaining said knife in itsuppermost position in said suideway.

5. A machine for producing spirally-shaped elements comprising a shaft,means for continuously driving said shaft, means for feeding and forminga wire into a spiral form, wire cutting means spaced from said feedingand forming means, and cutter actuating means including a pivoted hammernormally spaced from said wire cutting means, an endless chain having aplurality of knocker members provided thereon in predetermined. spacedrelation and connected to said shaft for continuous movement, a pivotedlever connected to said hammer member and having a portion thereofnormally positioned in the path of movement of said knocker members,said lever being arranged and adapted when struck by said knockermembers to cause said hammer member to deliver a blow to said wirecutting means and cause the latter to cut the wire, and means forlimiting the range of movement of said pivoted lever.

6. A machine such as is defined in claim 5, including stop means forlimiting the movement of said pivoted hammer in one direction and springmeans for normally maintaining said stop means operative and adapted toyieldingly resist movement of said pivoted hammer in the strikingdirection.

7. A machine for producing spirally-shaped elements comprising a shaft,means for continuously driving said shaft, means for feeding and forminga wire into a spiral shape, wire cutting means spaced from said feedingand forming means including a cutting knife, resilient means normallymaintaining said knife in retracted position, an endless chain having aplurality of knocker members provided thereon in predetermined, spacedrelation and connected to said shaft for continuous movement, a pivotedlever having a portion thereof normally positioned in the path ofmovement of said knocker members, a pivotally mounted hammer member, alink connecting said hammer member to said lever and adapted to pivotsaid hammer member towards said cutting knife when said lever is struckby a knocker member, a stop and spring means normally maintaining saidhammer member out of engagement with said cutting knife and said stopoperative to limit the rotation of said hammer member, said spring meansbeing adapted to yield when said hammer member is actuated to strikesaid cutting blade and being adapted to return said hammer member to itsnormal position after it has struck said cutting knife a blow, theresilient means associated with said cutting knife being adapted towithdraw said knife from its advanced cutting position to its retractednormal position.

EDWARD J. CONLIN.

